Tracking Inner City Substance Users from the Emergency Department: How Many Contacts Does It Take?

Background: Longitudinal studies of substance users report difficulty in locating and completing 12‐month interviews, which may compromise study validity. Objectives: This study examined rates and predictors of contact difficulty and in‐person follow‐up completion among patients presenting with cocaine‐related chest pain to an inner‐city emergency department (ED). The authors hypothesize that less staff effort in contacting patients and lower follow‐up rates would bias subsequent substance use analysis by missing those with heavier substance misuse. Methods: A total of 219 patients aged 19 to 60 years (65% males; 78% African American) with cocaine‐related chest pain were interviewed in the ED and then in person at 3, 6, and 12 months. Demographics, substance use measures, and amount/type of research staff contacts (telephone, letters, home visits, and locating patient during return ED visits) were recorded. Poisson and negative binomial regression analyses were conducted to predict quantity of patient contacts for the 12‐month follow‐up. Results: Interview completion rates at 3, 6, and 12 months were 78, 82, and 80%, respectively. Average contact attempts to obtain each interview were 10 at 3 months (range 3–44), 8 at 6 months (1–31), and 8 at 12 months (1–49); 13% of patients required a home visit to complete the 12‐month interview. Participants requiring more contact attempts by staff were younger and reported more frequent binge drinking at baseline (p < 0.05), but were less likely to meet criteria for substance abuse or dependence (p < 0.5), or to report prior mental health treatment (p < 0.05). Comparisons of parallel regressions predicting contact difficulty based on the entire sample, the low‐effort group, and the difficult‐to‐reach group showed variation in findings. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that substantial staff effort is required to achieve adequate retention over 12 months of patients with substance misuse. Without these extensive efforts at follow‐up, longitudinal analyses may be biased.     

Multicenter Study of Case Finding in Elderly Emergency Department Patients

Objectives: To assess the feasibility of a brief comprehensive case-finding program for detecting functional, cognitive, and social impairments among elderly ED patients and to estimate the prevalence of unknown, undetected, or untreated impairments elderly patients may have. Methods: A multicenter prospective study conducted at five private and public hospital EDs in five different communities across the country. Patients aged 60 years and older released to their homes during 52 randomly selected evening and weekend shifts between February 1 and April 30, 1993, were eligible for the case-finding program. They were evaluated by medical students who received special training (instructional videotape, supervised examinations, and conference calls) in the administration of a standardized 17-item protocol that included an interview and simple tests of function. The patients' physicians were notified of the screening results and were asked to return a one-month follow-up questionnaire. The physicians answered whether the presumed problem had been confirmed and whether a treatment plan for a new problem had been developed. Results: Patient acceptance of the case-finding program was good; 252 of 338 eligible patients (75%) agreed to participate, and 281 conditions were detected for 242 screened patients (96%). The most frequently reported problems were with: performing the activities of daily living (79%); vision (55%); lack of influenza vaccination (54%); home environment (49%); mental status (46%); general health (41%); falls (40%); and depression (36%). The physicians returned questionnaires for 153 patients (63%); 76 patients (50%) were evaluated at follow-up visits, during which 47 newly identified problems (62%) were confirmed and treatment plans were developed for 25 problems (53%) among 21 patients. A mean time of 17.7 ± 10.2 minutes was required to complete the screen. Conclusions: A brief comprehensive case-finding program for functional, cognitive, and social impairment among elderly ED patients is feasible. The screening uncovered a significant amount of morbidity among older patients visiting EDs.     

六西格玛原理在提高儿科门急诊静脉注射患儿家长满意度中的应用

目的运用六西格玛原理，将儿科门急诊静脉输液作为一个工作流程，寻找静脉注射的各个环节以及有可能影响患儿家长满意度的关键因素并加以改进，从而提高患儿家长满意度，提高儿科护理质量。方法通过设计数据收集表，收集影响静脉注射满意度的各个因数以及对结果的影响程度，用统计学的方法得出结论。结果215例样本中，满意选项177例，不满意选项38例，占总调查人数的17．67％；在不满意选项中护士的技术占首位，为52．6％；一次穿刺成功率、护士的表情和态度、注射持续时间对家长满意度有统计学差异（P〈0．01）。结论制定改善护士行为的一系列具体方案和措施，规范操作流程，提高服务和沟通能力和水平；提高护士的静脉穿刺水平，一针见血；改善注射流程，提高技术操作的能力和速度，缩短注射持续时间，以提高儿科门急诊静脉注射患儿家长满意度。     

656例交通事故伤的特点与急救护理

目的 了解交通事故伤的特点与救治对策，以提高救护水平。方法 采用自行设计调查表对656例交通事故伤患者进行问卷调查登记，分析创伤的特点并采取相应对策进行抢救治疗。结果 656例中男多于女，以青壮年居多，双休日发生率高，夜间多于日间，多发性损伤多见。抢救成功613例，占伤者总数93.4％，死亡43例占伤者总数6.6％。结论 交通事故伤多为多发伤，病情复杂而严重，要求分析全面，观察仔细，急救技术熟练，动作迅速，保持呼吸道通畅及积极抗休克是最基础和重要的措施。对脑干损伤、血气胸、肝脾破裂的患者行急诊手术止血，是降低死亡率的主要措施。     

Short shrift for the sane? The hospital management of self‐harm patients with and without mental illness

In recent years the British government has sought to target service provision both on people with severe enduring mental illness and on those considered to be at risk of suicide. The study reported here suggests these policies may have had unforeseen repercussions on services for people who self-harm but have no identifiable mental illness. This paper compares the hospital management of self-harm patients with and without mental illness. Over the years 1996-2000, a total of 4,329 self-harm patient attendances were recorded at the accident and emergency department of a British hospital. Whilst patients in 63.7% of attendances could reasonably have been considered to have some form of mental illness, we found that in the remaining 36.3% of attendances (where patients had no indicator of mental illness) a particularly poor standard of service was given. We suggest that if government targets for a reduction in the suicide rate are to be met, it is crucial that there should be marked improvements in services for all self-harm patients presenting at accident and emergency departments. However, in improving services we must be vigilant to the danger that targeting those with a mental illness may mean we fail to provide even basic levels of care for others.     

急诊护理记录单的设计与应用

目的完善急诊护理记录,避免医疗纠纷。方法将原有的急诊护理记录项目表格化,重视院前抢救记录和各种时间记录。落实不同急救人员(院前、急诊室、病房)交接时的签名制度。结果规范了院前急救、急诊抢救的护理流程,提高了病人满意率,降低了医疗纠纷的发生。结论急诊护理记录单实用,有效地促进了急诊护理质量的提高。     

Does the presence of an emergency physician improve access based quality indicators in a rural emergency department?

Objective: To assess the effect that the presence of an emergency physician in the ED has on the access indicators of the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards. Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in a 265 bed regional referral hospital in Victoria. The performance of the ED over a 6 month period, during which time there was incomplete emergency physician coverage, was monitored using The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) access indicators as the benchmark. These indicators are waiting time by triage category, and access block. Results: A total of 11 999 patient presentations were eligible for inclusion in the study. Emergency physicians were present for 76.5% of these presentations. All the indicators show a trend towards improvement when an emergency physician was present. However, the only indicator that shows a significant improvement is waiting time by triage category, and this is due mainly to an improvement within triage category 4. Conclusion: There is some evidence that the presence of an emergency physician improves performance within this group of access based indicators within a rural ED, however, the effect seen here is small. More studies are needed on this topic and also on the development of quality indicators for rural ED.     

Family member presence during resuscitation in the emergency department: An Australian perspective

Objective: The practice of family member presence during resuscitation in the ED has attracted widespread attention over the last few decades. Despite the recommendations of international organizations, clinical staff remain reluctant to engage in this practice in many EDs. This paper separates the evidence from opinion to determine the current state of knowledge about this practice. Methods: A search strategy was developed and used to locate research based publications, which were subsequently reviewed for the strength of evidence providing the basis for recommendations. Results: The literature was examined to reveal what patients and their family members want; the outcomes of family presence during resuscitation for patients and their family members; staff views and practices regarding family presence during resuscitation. Findings suggest that providing the opportunity to be with their critically ill family member is both important to and beneficial for families, however, disparity in staff views has been identified as a major obstacle to family presence during resuscitation. Examination of published guidelines and staff practices described in the literature revealed consistent elements. Conclusion: Although critics point to the lack of rigour in this body of literature, the current state of knowledge suggests merit in pursuing future research to examine and measure effects of family member presence during resuscitation on patients, family members and healthcare providers.